Volume 201 5 Number 4 Bulletin of the Winter 201 5/201 6 Oregon Entomological Society
Moths of the South Fork of Mill Creek (Wasco County, Oregon) Dana Ross
Personnel Involved with a subset (rare moths, range extensions and important distri- butional confirmations) forwarded to the Lepidopterists’ Society Terry Stoddard ofThe Dalles, Oregon, first recommended the PNW Season Summary coordinator Jon Shepard. South Fork of Mill Creek for a moth study due to its high quality oak-bunchgrass habitat and abundant Lepidoptera based on his Results years of collecting there. Terry also provided a moth trap for the study. More than 2,700 moths representing at least 170 species were sampled over 52 nights during this study. A total of 67 macro- Dick Stentz, a technician at the Wicks Water Treatment Plant moth species were documented for the first time in Wasco County (The Dalles water supply), conducted all of the moth sampling while many others were collected for just the 2nd or 3rd time, ac- over the two year period (2012–2013) of the project and submit- cording to the PNW Moths website (records for the Geometridae ted the site photo for use in this report. are not available yet). A checklist of documented species, includ- ing total number sampled and flight period by month, is presen- Dana Ross provided project oversight and sampling supplies, pro- ted in Table 1. cessed/identified moth samples, created the electronic database and mounted most of the voucher material. Acknowledgements
Paul Hammond helped with moth processing, identified the more This Project was supported by the Harold E. and Leona M. Rice difficult moths and mounted some of the rarer species for their Endowment Fund, Oregon State University. timely accession into the Oregon State Arthropod Collection (OSAC).
Method
Moths were sampled from the vicinity of the Wicks Water Treat- ment Plant (Photo 1) over the course of two years (2012 and 2013) using a UV blacklight bucket trap. Samples provided single-night moth species richness and relative abundance data that was combined over the course of the study for a reasonably complete description of the macromoth fauna and the document- ation of some microlepidoptera at the site. Each sample was placed in a sealed plastic baggy, labeled with the date of collection and frozen until transport to Corvallis/OSAC for processing. Pro- cessing entailed sorting, counting and identifying all macromoths for each sample. Selected specimens were retained for deposit in OSAC as voucher material. Sample data was entered into an EX- CEL file that included fields for family, taxon, date of collection and abundance. Project data is being made available to the PNW Photo 1 . Wicks Water Treatment Plant on the South Fork Mill Creek. Habitats Moths website ( ), include undisturbed oak, bunchgrass and riparian plant communities. Photo
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Family Taxon Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Totals Notes Geometridae Eupithecia zelmira 2 5 7 Geometridae Eustroma semiatrata 4 4 Geometridae Hesperumia sulphuraria 4 4 8 Geometridae Hydriomena edenata 65 65 Geometridae Macaria adonis 1 1 Geometridae Melanolophia imitata 1 1 Geometridae Neoalcis californiaria 9 9 Geometridae Nepytia phantasmaria 1 1 Geometridae Operophtera danbyi 13 13 Geometridae Perizoma costiguttata 1 3 11 1 16 Geometridae Pero mizon 1 2 1 4 Geometridae Phigalia plumogeraria 5 2 7 Geometridae Philedia punctomacularia 1 1 Geometridae Protitame matilda 2 2 Geometridae Sabulodes edwardsata 2 2 Geometridae Sericosema juturnaria 3 14 17 Geometridae Sicya crocearia 3 3 Geometridae Stenoporpia dejecta 2 2 Geometridae Synchlora aerata 1 1 Geometridae Tetracis cervinaria 1 2 3 6 Geometridae Tetracis jubararia 4 1 5 Geometridae Tetracis pallulata 1 1 Geometridae Triphosa haesitata 1 1 2 Geometridae Venusia pearsalli 30 1 31 Geometridae Xanthorhoe defensaria 1 1 Geometridae Zenophleps lignicolorata 26 5 31 Lasiocampidae Malacosoma californicum 3 3 Lasiocampidae Malacosoma constrictum 102 102 Wasco County Record Lasiocampidae Phyllodesma americana 1 40 6 47 Wasco County Record Lasiocampidae Tolype distincta 3 2 5 Noctuidae Abagrotis forbesi 1 5 4 10 Noctuidae Abagrotis placida 1 1 Wasco County Record Noctuidae Abagrotis reedi 1 1 Noctuidae Abagrotis scopeops 1 3 4 Noctuidae Acerra normalis 7 37 44 Noctuidae Acronicta dactylina 3 3 Wasco County Record Noctuidae Acronicta impleta 1 1 Wasco County Record Noctuidae Acronicta marmorata 2 12 14 Noctuidae Agrochola purpurea 3 1 4 Noctuidae Amphipyra pyramidoides 1 1 Wasco County Record Noctuidae Anagrapha falcifera 1 1 Wasco County Record Noctuidae Apamea "nr tahoeensis" 27 27 Noctuidae Apamea amputatrix 1 1 Wasco County Record
3 Bulletin ofthe OES, Winter 2015/2016 Family Taxon Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Totals Notes Noctuidae Apamea antennata 1 1 Noctuidae Apamea cinefacta 2 7 9 Noctuidae Apamea cuculliformis 1 1 Noctuidae Aseptis binotata 10 3 13 Noctuidae Behrensia conchiformis 9 9 Wasco County Record Noctuidae Brachylomia rectifascia 1 1 Wasco County Record Noctuidae Caradrina meralis 11 20 31 Wasco County Record Noctuidae Cosmia calami 1 36 6 43 Wasco County Record Noctuidae Cosmia elisae 1 2 3 Wasco County Record Noctuidae Cosmia praeacuta 2 2 Wasco County Record Noctuidae Cryphia cuerva 2 8 10 Wasco County Record Noctuidae Cucullia eulepis 1 1 Noctuidae Dargida procinctus 1 1 Wasco County Record Noctuidae Dichagyris variabilis 2 2 Wasco County Record Noctuidae Egira crucialis 5 44 49 Noctuidae Egira curialis 28 28 Noctuidae Egira februalis 32 13 45 Noctuidae Egira hiemalis 4 1 5 Wasco County Record Noctuidae Egira perlubens 54 1 55 Noctuidae Egira rubrica 8 8 Noctuidae Egira simplex 2 1 3 Wasco County Record Noctuidae Epidemas obscurus 3 2 5 Wasco County Record Noctuidae Euxoa "nr simulata" 15 15 Noctuidae Euxoa aequalis 1 1 Wasco County Record Noctuidae Euxoa atomaris 1 1 Wasco County Record Noctuidae Euxoa difformis 1 1 Wasco County Record Noctuidae Euxoa henrietta 3 3 Noctuidae Euxoa hollemani 1 1 Wasco County Record Noctuidae Euxoa infausta 2 76 78 Noctuidae Euxoa satis 11 1 12 Noctuidae Euxoa terrenus 1 6 7 Wasco County Record Noctuidae Euxoa tocoyae 1 1 2 Wasco County Record Noctuidae Feltia jaculifera 4 14 18 Wasco County Record Noctuidae Fishia discors 1 1 Wasco County Record Noctuidae Fishia yosemitae 1 1 Wasco County Record Noctuidae Homorthodes communis 1 3 4 Wasco County Record Noctuidae Homorthodes furfurata 8 70 78 Wasco County Record Noctuidae Homorthodes hanhami 2 2 Wasco County Record Noctuidae Hydraecia medialis 1 1 Wasco County Record Noctuidae Ipimorpha viridipallida 1 1 Wasco County Record Noctuidae Lacanobia subjuncta 1 1 Wasco County Record Noctuidae Lacinipolia comis 1 1 Wasco County Record Noctuidae Lacinipolia cuneata 3 1 4 Noctuidae Lacinipolia pensilis 9 8 3 20
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Family Taxon Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Totals Notes Noctuidae Lacinipolia stricta 1 1 48 1 51 Noctuidae Lacinipolia strigicollis 126 17 2 145 4th most abundant species Noctuidae Leucania dia 4 4 Wasco County Record Noctuidae Leucania farcta 1 1 2 Noctuidae Leucania oregona 2 6 13 21 Noctuidae Litholomia napaea 1 1 Wasco County Record Noctuidae Lithophane dilatocula 1 1 Wasco County Record Noctuidae Mesogona olivata 14 14 Noctuidae Nephelodes minians 10 10 Noctuidae Noctua pronuba 11 4 1 16 1 33 Noctuidae Oligia divesta 129 30 5 164 2nd most abundant species Noctuidae Orthosia ferrigera 2 9 11 Noctuidae Orthosia hibisci 22 22 Noctuidae Orthosia pacifica 121 121 5th most abundant species Noctuidae Orthosia praeses 5 5 Wasco County Record Noctuidae Orthosia pulchella 1 1 Wasco County Record Noctuidae Parabagrotis exertistigma 2 2 Wasco County Record Noctuidae Parabagrotis formalis 1 1 13 5 1 3 24 Noctuidae Parabagrotis insularis 1 1 2 Noctuidae Perigonica tertia 227 227 1st most abundant species Noctuidae Pleromelloida bonuscula 4 4 Wasco County Record Noctuidae Pleromelloida cinerea 4 4 Noctuidae Pleromelloida conserta 9 21 1 31 Wasco County Record Noctuidae Properigea albimacula 24 15 39 Noctuidae Protorthodes curtica 6 15 21 Wasco County Record Noctuidae Pseudorthodes irrorata 1 1 Wasco County Record Noctuidae Raphia frater 2 3 1 6 Noctuidae Spaelotis bicava 1 1 Wasco County Record Noctuidae Spodoptera praefica 2 2 Wasco County Record Noctuidae Sympistis greyi 1 1 2 Wasco County Record Noctuidae Tholera americana 1 1 Wasco County Record Noctuidae Trichordestra liquida 1 1 Wasco County Record Noctuidae Ufeus satyricus 1 1 Noctuidae Xestia infimatis 5 1 6 Noctuidae Xylena cineritia 2 2 Nolidae Meganola minuscula 8 8 Notodontidae Furcula occidentalis 1 1 Wasco County Record Notodontidae Gluphisia severa 1 28 3 32 Notodontidae Nadata gibbosa 1 45 1 47 Notodontidae Nadata oregonensis 4 38 42 Notodontidae Schizura unicornis 1 3 4 Wasco County Record Saturniidae Antheraea polyphemus 2 1 1 4 Wasco County Record Saturniidae Hyalophora euryalus 1 1 Wasco County Record Sphingidae Hyles lineata 1 1 Wasco County Record
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Family Taxon Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Totals Notes Sphingidae Proserpinus lucidus 2 2 Sphingidae Smerinthus ophthalmica 1 2 1 4 Sphingidae Sphinx perelegans 1 1 Sphingidae Sphinx vashti 1 1 Wasco County Record Uraniidae Callizzia amorata 1 1 Wasco County Record
Funding Opportunities
Pacific Northwest Lepidopterists' Fund in Honor US Fish and Wildlife Service Section 6 of Harold Rice Opportunity—Oregon
“In honor of Mr. Rice, we [the Oregon State Arthropod The US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Oregon Parks and Collection (OSAC)] have allocated funds to support the Recreation Department have requested proposals for rare community of Pacific Northwest lepidopterists to which Harold invertebrate research projects to be funded under their section 6 belonged. In particular, we hope the fund will encourage and program for fiscal year 2016. Funds will be available to study facilitate the valuable research, work and contributions made each federally listed, proposed, and candidate invertebrate species, and year by individuals, who like Mr. Rice, were not employed conduct status surveys for species of special concern in Oregon. fulltime as lepidopterists, yet spend much of their personal time Project budgets need to show 25% non-federal matching funds. and resources collecting and studying these amazing creatures.” The money from these grants will be used for projects in the 2017 – excerpted from the Fund’s write-up field season, and projects are expected to be completed by December 31, 2017. Proposals, with estimated costs and match This fund, which provides one or two awards for up to $500 each, amounts, need to be submitted to Eleanor Gaines at the Oregon is given annually to encourage activities directly related to PNW Biodiversity Information Center by January 22, 2016. If you are Lepidoptera and/or activities related to the improvement of interested in submitting a proposal, please contact Eleanor at OSAC’s Lepidoptera collection. Past awards have gone to:
More information, as well as directions for how to apply, can be The US Fish and Wildlife Service has ruled that listing found at
“Dragonfly ID”—an App for your Phone option to search for recently sighted species nearby, to find local dragonfly hotspots, and to generate a life list of species The Dragonfly ID app allows users to identify and learn more sightings. This app, available in English and Spanish, currently about the species they see, in the places where these species only works on iOS systems (an Android version is coming). perch, patrol, and mate. Each species entry includes the common and scientific name, a photo gallery, a distribution For more information or to download the iOS version, please map showing individual records, and an abundance chart that visit
6 Bulletin ofthe OES, Winter 2015/2016 Flora or Oregon—Volume 1 Available
The Oregon Flora Project biographies of notable Oregon botanists and the history of the (
Caitlin LaBar is working on a 260+ page self-published book, Butterflies ofthe Sinlahekin Wildlife Area, which is expected to be finished in early 2016. The Sinlahekin Wildlife Area, north of Omak, WA, boasts an unusual diversity of plant and butterfly species. This book will contain range maps, species photos (specimens, live adults, some immatures), and habitat information for all 88 Sinlahekin butterflies, as well as full species descriptions and tips on identification for them and the remaining 35 butterfly species recorded in Okanogan County. A 20 page quick-reference version of this book, Field Guide to Okanogan County Butterflies, is currently available for $15 + $2 shipping. It contains thumbnail photos of all 123 Okanogan County butterflies (sample plate and individual image from the plate shown on right), keys to difficult species groups such as fritillaries and blues, and maps of Okanogan County and the Sinlahekin Wildlife Area. For more information or to order the field guide, contact Caitlin at
North American Butterfly Association (NABA) Monday, February 8, 2016 Upcoming Meetings in Eugene Activities of a Contract Lepidopterist—Dana Ross
Meetings of the Eugene–Springfield Chapter are free and open Monday, April 11, 2016—TBA to interested members of the general public. For more information on the Chapter and its activities please Meeting place: Eugene Garden Club, 1645 High St., Eugene. visit their website,
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On 17-18 October 2015, over 50 people gathered in Cordley Hall In the pages that follow I (Ron Lyons) have summarized the vari- on the campus of Oregon State University for the 37th annual ous presentations, as well as some of the other business dis- workshop meeting of lepidopterists of the Pacific Northwest. The cussed.The summaries have been looked over and enhanced meeting was hosted by Drs. Paul Hammond and David McCorkle and/or corrected as necessary by the various speakers. Robert and sponsored by the Oregon State Zoology Department and the Fernau rewrote his summary. Resources (in print and online) Oregon State Arthropod Collection (OSAC). mentioned at the meeting are included with the relevant material.
Oral presentations were made by David Maddison, Chris Mar- The groups of Lepidoptera for emphasis this year were: shall, Paul Hammond, David McCorkle, Dave Specht, Robert ▶ Butterflies: White Admirals and Green Hairstreaks (Callophrys) Fernau, and David Lee Myers. Mark Hitchcox and Richard Worth ▶ Moths: general moths especially Catocala, Saturniidae and led a special workshop on microlepidoptera. microlepidoptera
David Maddison—Welcome
David Maddison, director of the Oregon State Arthropod Previous awards have gone to: Collection (OSAC), formally welcomed the group on behalf of Dana Ross for a survey of moths in an oak woodland near The OSU and OSAC. Dalles (see report beginning on page 1); Terry Stoddard for equipment to introduce Lepidoptera to David and Chris Marshall now teach an insect biodiversity survey school children; course for undergraduates and graduate students at Oregon State Matthew Campbell for the purchase of equipment for the (course number Z 475/Z 575–Insect Biodiversity Survey). The Pendleton High School Lepidopterists’ Club (members course begins with a week long field trip to the HJ Andrews Forest pictured below). in the Cascades in early September just before school starts. In the field, the students collect specimens using various methods and David also invited everyone to attend the open house in the benefit from some personal interaction time with the instructors. collection later. When asked by the students what his dream species to collect would be, David, a carabid beetle expert, replied without hesitation Nototylus fryi (pictured at
David encouraged the participants to consider applying for funding from the Pacific Northwest Lepidopterists’ Fund in Honor of Harold Rice (see Members of the Pendleton High School Lepidoptera Club. Back row left to right: Walker Paullus, Mollee Alan, Alex (David) Gear, Madison Drake, Matthew Campbell (Advisor). Front Row: Evan the funding opportunity on page 6). Miller, Lincoln Johnson, Logan Miller. Photo by Andrew Wegner.
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Chris Marshall—Collection Update
Chris Marshall, Curator and Collection Manager of the Oregon and well curated collection of midwestern and eastern forest State Arthropod Collection (OSAC), detailed the changes to the insects donated by Darrell Ross. The material, mostly Coleoptera, collection since the last meeting. Hymenoptera and Diptera, are excellent additions to the museum's already substantial holdings of forest insects from the Last year OSAC collaborated with a number of national and Western United States. regional institutions to seek NSF funds to produce digital records for North American Lepidoptera housed in the various collections Jon Shepard noted that Paul Hammond had been working and make them available online. The proposal was not funded intensely all summer curating material. The Papilionidae during that funding cycle, (not surprising since current NSF (Swallowtails and Parnassians) are almost completely curated now. funding rates are less than 10%). It is not unusual for large Jon indicated that, for Parnassius, OSAC has all the species in the complex proposals to be submitted several times, each time world except one that is endemic to the highest habitat in the incorporating comments from reviewers, before being funded. A world, Mount Everest. In North America, OSAC has every newly written (and improved) version of the proposal was recognized and synonymized subspecies except the ones in western submitted again this year, and the participants should know early Alaska. This provides an idea of how broad the coverage OSAC in 2016 whether this version of the proposal is funded. If funded, has worldwide. the proposal will allow OSAC to record and share specimen records for its North American butterflies and moths. Bob Hardwick (1 942-201 4) Chris indicated that OSAC received a number of donations during the year. Notable among these was Washington Washington high school teacher, Bob Hardwick developed his lepidopterist Bob Hardwick’s sizeable collection donated by his interest in butterflies early in life. Bob was a member of the family (see note opposite). Bob’s collection was worldwide in Washington Butterfly Association and wrote the Butterflies of coverage but particularly strong in western Washington material. Washington published in 2010. His extensive collection of over Chris thanked the family for their generous donation and invited 7000 butterfly specimens was donated to the Oregon State all the participants to check out some of Bob’s material during the Arthropod Collection. open house later in the meeting. (Only a portion of this material was on display because there was too much to display it all.) In For more information on Bob, see page 7 of the Washington addition to that collection, the museum also received an Butterfly Association’s newsletter G’num September 2014 issue outstanding collection of Papilio indra (Indra Swallowtail) from available at
At the time of the workshop, Ann Potter had received 2 county John Baumann, president of the Washington Butterfly Association records for Washington: Erynnis persius (Persius Duskywing) was (WABA,
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North Trans-Continental Survey conducted in 1882. The survey only one possible sighting in a hackberry grove. While Bob found B. bellona along the Colville River south of Colville. This is suspects the butterfly is present in small numbers along the Snake the only record in Stevens County of this species at low elevations; River in Washington, Oregon and Idaho, no photographs or other known populations of this species in Stevens and Ferry specimens have yet been obtained. Bob indicated that he would Counties are found at higher elevations. The low elevation search again next year, hopefully enjoying a bit cooler weather. A population that John Baumann reported gives credence to the full report of the field trip may be on pages 3-4 of the Washington 1882 survey record. Butterfly Association’s newsletter G’num November 2015 issue available at
Bob Pyle again looked for Asterocampa celtis (Hackberry Emperor) Bob did find out that the location reported by Ray is actually on in Asotin county, southeastern Washington, first reported along the Oregon side of the border, not on the Washington side as the Snake River by Ray Stanford a couple of years ago. Bob previously thought. searched for evidence of the butterfly for a couple of days but had Activity Reports—Oregon
As usual, people were still compiling their records for the year at (See
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The Asian Gypsy Moth in the Pacific Northwest 201 5 Publication News Flora of Oregon Mark Hitchcox reported that several Asian Gypsy Moths had been collected in the Pacific Northwest this year as part of the Proper identification of vegetation is important for host cooperative monitoring program between the USDA, Oregon plant records and sometimes for the identification of the Department of Agriculture (ODA), Oregon Department of butterfly species itself. Stephen Meyers from the OSU Forestry (ODF), Washington State Department of Agriculture Department of Botany announced the publication of the (WSDA), and the USFS. Three moths were caught in the first of 3 volumes of the Flora ofOregon. See the note on Portland area and several more in the Puget Sound area. All the page 7 for more details on this publication. moths were caught near the water close to trade routes. More intensive work will be carried out to determine whether or not the Field Guide to Okanogan County Butterflies moths are established or in the process of becoming established. There are plans for eradication treatments next year with BtK Caitlin LaBar passed around a copy of her short publication spray. Some concern was expressed about the impact of the Bt FieldGuide to Okanogan County Butterflies. She is working on spraying on non-target species and efforts to mitigate this were a longer version titled Butterflies ofthe Sinlahekin Wildlife mentioned. Area. See the note on page 7 for more details and ordering information. Asian Gypsy Moths were found in similar areas ofWashington and Oregon in 1991. A short note on the eradication program Timber Press Field Guide to PNW Butterflies carried out at that time can be found at
Butterfly Big Year 201 5
Chris Tenney is doing a second Butterfly Big Year this year. You can read about his experience online at
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Dave Specht—Powell Butte Lepidoptera Oregon Silverspot Status 201 5
Paul Hammond reported on the status of Speyeria zerene Dave Specht has been monitoring Lepidoptera, particularly hippolyta (Oregon Silverspot), a federally listed rare and butterflies, at the Powell Butte Nature Park (
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Paul Hammond and Dave McCorkle—Hybridization Study of Fritillaries (Speyeria)
The presentation outlined the contributions of Bill Bergman, from the refrigerator and allowed to develop in jars where fresh Dave McCorkle and Paul Hammond to the hybridization studies leaves are added as needed. Dave lines each jar with a little slip discussed in the paper Hammond, McCorkle and Bergman of tissue paper that can be easily removed when it gets full of (2013). droppings to clean the jars.
3) Pupation: Once the larvae are mature Dave puts a tissue lining Bill Bergman began crossing different species of Speyeria in the over the top of the jar. The larvae will generally hang from the early 1980s. He used a tedious hand-pairing technique to tissue to pupate. When the adult is ready to emerge, the pupa interbreed all the various specimens used in this study. Many is placed on the bottom of a container because the newly- pairings failed to poduce fertile eggs whether species or hybrids. emerged adult wants to crawl around and climb. He attributed this failure to the formation of massive mating plugs (after a bit of discussion there was general agreement that he Dave distributes the pupae or the adults depending on how they meant something like the sphragis found in Parassians). In a letter will be used in the study. read in part by Dave, Bergman wrote “There is something about the way I care for the butterflies that induces this tendency to As an aside, Dave addressed the need to get permits for the form these plugs. I do not see mating plugs often in nature but transport and rearing of plant pests when they are not native to since I observe them in the lab I have paid more attention. I think the state. I have seen them very rarely in wild cybele but I have not preserved evidence.” Paul Hammond explained the reason for conducting these experiments and presented the results. Dave McCorkle also began work on the fritillaries back in the early 1980s, but in his case, helping to raise them but not This group is widely distributed throughout the temperate hybridize them. regions of both Eurasia and North America. Paul presented a family tree to show one view of the genealogy of the fritillary Dave’s unique contribution was getting the hatched larvae butterflies of the world. The most primitive living fritillary is through the winter. His outlined his nurturing technique: Fabriciana niobe, a Eurasian species that has a lot of checkerspot characteristics and appears intermediate between the fritillaries 1) Eggs: The eggs are kept in a baby food jar until they hatch. A and the checkerspots. It gave rise to the Eurasian genera Argynnis thick leaf that doesn’t produce toxic fumes is placed in the jar and Mesoacidalia. The theory is that a species of Mesoacidalia, M. to control the humidity. Dave noted that if you put water in, aglaja from central Asia, crossed into North America and then things get moldy. underwent an adaptive radiation, resulting in the North American genus Speyeria. The most primitive Speyeria, S. mormonia, is 2) Larvae: When the larvae first emerge, Dave puts them on a almost identical to M. adlaja except for some genitalic differences. Petri dish lined with filter paper rinsed with water. As a substrate, the filter paper is free of toxic chemicals. The larvae Hybrid studies are a way to test the relationship hypothesis remain on the wet filter paper for an hour or so allowing them expressed by the family tree. When you combine individuals from to hydrate by drinking. Just hatched larvae probably don’t different species, there are different levels of genetic compatibility need much water but this time period allows larvae that have between their genomes. If the individuals are very closely related been out for a while to become fully hydrated. and have very good genetic compatibility, they are completely interfertile and there are no genetic problems. When the parents Using a little paint brush, Dave transfers the hydrated larvae are sufficiently diverse, no hybrids are produced and there is not into hollowed out hardwood blocks, in his case alder. Unlike even any hybrid development. In between you get different levels conifers, alder seems relatively free of toxins. A piece of cloth is of viability. Problems with the heterozygotic sex, usually the stapled over the opening of the block and the block is placed females in Lepidoptera, arise before problems with the in the refrigerator. The larvae are removed regularly (about homozygotic sex, in this case the males (see “Haldane’s rule”). once a month) and allowed to rehydrate while still inside the wetted blocks. The first step in testing this hypothesis was to cross the North American Speyeria with representatives of each of the 3 Eurasian After a month or so, up to a year later, the larvae are removed genera. The crosses with Argynnis failed to produce any viable
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hybids; the Fabriciana stock was too weak to work with. However is often hard to identify Speyeria individuals found in the field. He a couple crosses between Mesoacidalis with Speyeria did produce suggested that this occurs because there is a lot more hybridization hybrids. Although incomplete, these tests support the idea going on in nature than we realize. Mesoacidalia is more closely related to Speyeria than the other Eurasian genera, at least Argynnis. (Since the USDA no longer Hybidization may be a means by which species can interchange grants permits to import exotic Lepidoptera, you can’t really do specific genes that are valuable for particular adaptations—that tests like this anymore.) doesn't mean the entire genomes becomes hybridized but rather just that a few selective genes go through some kind of filter or The next step was to cross the various Speyeria species. Rather genetic bottleneck to get into another species. Paul suggested that than summarize the presentation of the results of these crosses in Speyeria the sharing of genes between species has been a here, the reader is referred to the discussion in Hammond, evolutionarily significant phenomenon. McCorkle and Bergman (2013), where the resulting hybrids are discussed and pictured. Reference
In terms of the biological species concept, the species of Speyeria Hammond, P.C., D.V. McCorkle and W. Bergman. 2013. are distinct. They have very strong reproductive isolating Hybridization Studies of Genomic Compatibility and mechanisms that seem to be the result of different male and Phenotypic Expression in the Greater Fritillary Butterflies female sex pheromones that keep the species from interbreeding in (Nymphalidae: Argynnini). Journal of the Lepidopterists’ the wild. In the laboratory, however, all the species of Speyeria Society 67(4): 263–273. (download the PDF
Male hybrid cross (above) between male Speyeria cybele cybele (top right – typical examples) and female Speyeria diana (bottom right – typical examples). No female hybrids were produced in this cross. All specimens deposited in the Oregon State Arthropod collection (OSAC). Photos by Ron Lyons.
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Robert Fernau—Biological monitoring to David Lee Myers—A Couple of Recent better understand climate change in the Images Marble Mountain Wilderness In late August, David hiked along the Cape Alava Trail on the Dr. Rob Fernau is a Research Associate at the Department of Plant Olympic Peninsula in NW Washington looking for the Makah Sciences at the University of California, Davis. Copper (see the Butterflies ofCascadia p. 186). While he hiked out on two days, he only found one butterfly, probably because it was In 1984, Rob began a long-term study monitoring the butterflies in towards the end of the flight season. Even then his encounter was the Marble Mountain Wilderness, a rugged area in Northern very brief. Bob Pyle pointed out that the pallor of the female California’s Siskiyou County in the Klamath National Forest about butterfly shown in David’s picture was a real feature, not an 30 miles SW ofYreka. The wilderness covers 378 square miles and artifact of the butterfly’s age. Bob is working on a description of ranges in altitude from 640 feet to 8299 feet above sea level. Rob this species. For some interesting reading and pictures of the area chose this area because its extraordinarily high environmental download The Ozette Prairies ofOlympic National Park: Their heterogeneity is packed into a small area, thereby forming an ideal Former Indigenous Uses and Management, a PDF available from the biogeographical setting for monitoring research. The wilderness National Park Service at
Rob will continue his monitoring work in 2016 and welcomes butterfly and plant enthusiasts to join him. Acknowledgements Idie Ulsh I would like to extend my many thanks to all the presenters Idie Ulsh, a prominent member of the for their comments, corrections, and changes to the various Washington butterfly community and summaries I prepared from the meeting record. I know all a regular workshop participant, passed the feedback improved the accuracy and usefulness of the away this year. A tribute to her can be material. found on pages 1–2 of the July 2015 issue of G’num, the publication of the Thank you all very much. Washington Butterfly Association. Download
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Northwest Lepidopterists’Workshop 201 5—Participants Photo Key 1 David Lee Myers 1 8 Bob Pyle 35 Bill Neill 2 Ray Stanford 1 9 Lori Humphreys 36 Gary Pearson 3 John Baumann 20 Terry Stoddard 37 Ross Tewksbury 4 Robin Cushman 21 Richard Worth 38 TJ O’Hanlon 5 Scott Harrington 22 David Hagen 39 Ron Lyons 6 Mark Hitchcox 23 Jim Reed 40 Steve Weitz 7 Dave McNeese 24 Rick Ahrens 41 Jon Shepard 8 Dan Thackaberry 25 Lars Crabo 42 Vern Covlin 9 Carol Specht 26 Matthew Campbell 43 Susan Gold 1 0 Jake Forgey 27 Lois Hagen 44 Alison Center 1 1 Steve Northway 28 Jonathan Pelham 45 Mike Raschko 1 2 Dave McCorkle 29 Dennis Deck 46 Evan Miller 1 3 Trevor McNeese 30 Dana Ross 47 Linda Kappen 1 4 Dave Specht 31 Ed Schmitt 48 Paul Hammond 1 5 Chad Pyle 32 Madison Drake 49 Rob Fernau 1 6 Gary Lindberg 33 Ann Albright 1 7 Caitlin LaBar 34 Alex Wright
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